MacKenzie To Have Hearing

Blue Jackets center Derek MacKenzie will have a hearing with the NHL department of player safety this afternoon for a hit on Phoenix defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson last night.

Ekman-Larsson was knocked out of the game in the first period with what the Coyotes called an upper-body injury. He did not return.

MacKenzie hit Larsson from behind and drove him into the boards. No penalty was called.

Blue Jackets coach Todd Richards said he didn’t see the hit. “I just heard the boards rattle,” he said.

Phoenix defenseman Keith Yandle immediately engaged MacKenzie after the hit. Both were given five-minute fighting majors.

“(Ekman-Larsson) actually got hit in Buffalo and we talked about if a guy gets hit like that you’ve got to stick up for him,” Yandle said. “I’m not going to beat anybody up but you’ve got to stick up for him. He’d do the same for me.”

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